When Roads Empty And Benches React, What Really Matters In Basketball

The highway felt empty this morning, the kind of quiet that pulls you back to lockdown days and makes you notice what really matters. That calm sets up a bigger conversation about basketball’s future: the pull of spectacle versus the power of fundamentals. We go from a 7-foot-9 Montreal phenom towering beside Wemby to the hard truth that size guarantees nothing without footwork, balance, and reps. Highlights get views; habits win seasons.

We dig into Mac McClung’s puzzle: G League MVP numbers, viral hops, and yet fragile NBA fit when defenses hunt small guards. It’s a masterclass in context. The same lens reframes Zion and Anthony Davis—top-tier when available, unpredictable when not—and why dependability beats potential in roster-building. Then we trace a line from college stars who stall out to global pros who thrive. European academies teach angles, spacing, and decisions first, athleticism second, and that’s showing up nightly with Luka, Jokic, and a wave of international players who bend games without chasing vertical inches.

From there we pivot to solutions. All-Star Weekend needs stakes that players feel and fans believe in—think tournament format or USA vs World with real pride on the line. Along the way we challenge MVP narratives, spotlighting Jokic’s quiet inevitability and the way bench reactions betray awe when genius happens in real time. It’s not about the loudest dunk; it’s about the smartest possession. The throughline is clear: to build sustainable contenders, invest in health, versatility, and schemes that scale under playoff pressure.

Ride with us as we connect empty roads, giant prospects, global fundamentals, and a league searching for higher stakes. If this hit home, follow the show, leave a review, and share it with a friend who loves the game as much as you do. What change would you make to All-Star Weekend?

Chapters

• 0:00 Cold Open And Light Banter
• 0:32 Show Intro And Cast Roll Call
• 0:56 Quiet Roads, Covid Memories, And Driving
• 5:14 The 7-Foot-9 Prospect And Wemby
• 8:20 Mac McClung, G League MVP, And Fit
• 12:10 Injuries, Stars, And Team Form Slumps
• 17:00 Why NCAA Stardom Doesn’t Always Translate
• 20:40 Europe vs USA: Fundamentals And Team Play
• 23:15 All-Star Format Fixes And Ratings Woes
• 27:04 Jokic’s Greatness And MVP Fatigue
• 30:40 Bench Reactions, LeBron’s Return, And Fit

Transcript

Cold Open And Light Banter

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Still in high school, like he's not, you know. Oh, okay, yeah. Well he could he could do the uh Giannis uh layup probably from half.

SPEAKER_00 0:06

From half. Right.

Show Intro And Cast Roll Call

SPEAKER_03 0:08

Yeah, yeah. Two steps from the three-point line. All that thing we looked at was bananas. He was Rob. Shaq, we love you, buddy. Shut up, Charles. So yeah, so 100%. Give it to him, Ernie. Yeah. Yeah. If you don't get us on the show, we're gonna be pissed. Hey everybody, welcome back to You Would Think with Bobby D and Mikey D. Oh, it's Mikey D today. Okay. And uh tech guy, Dr. Bardia. He is Iranian. Be careful. That is true. If you didn't know, he's defected, though. All right. So once again, driving out here to the land of the podcast world.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 0:53

Today was a good drive.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Oh, that's good.

Quiet Roads, Covid Memories, And Driving

SPEAKER_03 0:55

Sort of. So here's here's why. There's no cars. So, and you were figuring because tomorrow people might take it off because Tuesday's a holiday.

SPEAKER_04 1:04

I don't know, man. I have no idea. It's kind of weird that it's I I kind of no matter what reminded me of the early 90s. Yeah, it was good.

SPEAKER_03 1:12

Yeah, it was just cruising along. I really had to use my brakes. But uh yeah, it was like this is the way it's supposed to be, isn't it?

SPEAKER_04 1:18

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:18

With no traffic like bumper to bumper to bumper to bumper the whole the whole way in.

SPEAKER_04 1:22

Or you were just so high you didn't notice any of the other things.

SPEAKER_03 1:24

Oh, it definitely wasn't that sober as a judge. But you know what I did see uh at Walmart this morning was a dead deer, like on an off-road, like not on a main road. Oh yeah, like on an off the guy must have, or whoever person who hit it. If he killed it, it's a pretty big size doe. So he must have smashed a car pretty good, too. Yeah, it must have, uh the crows were pecking at it, but I'm like, what a weird place for the deer to be, like where it was.

SPEAKER_04 1:49

There was an accident on Friday morning, they said there was deer related. I wonder if that was where it was. Was it like a off ramp or was it?

SPEAKER_03 1:55

No, it's like there's like uh Kabacud Road and Rocky Lake Road area, and then off Rocky Lake Road is like, I don't know what the name of the street is that Walmart and all these shops are on. But yeah, it's like it's not a big main road where it was hit. Like if you go up further, it's kind of highway, highway-ish. Sure. But where the where the thing was hit, you might drive maybe 50.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:18

Maybe 50. So I'm thinking, how did he even hit it? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, anyway. Jumped out last second, man. Yeah, yeah. But you know, it is what it is. But yeah, finally a real nice drive. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 2:29

Oh man, I thought I'd gonna start with the drive, and I thought something must have happened on the way in, but no.

SPEAKER_03 2:32

No, not today. It was good. I wish it was like that all the time. I know. Actually, you know what, you know what it's like? That Saturday, Sunday, anywhere from between like 7 and 9 a.m. There's nobody anywhere.

SPEAKER_04 2:42

When uh when COVID hit, and Claude uh my Claudia was working at the um the call center, the 811 uh call center. Okay, like it was uh I had to drive her into work every day. It was like ghost car, man. Like anywhere you went, there was just no cars on the road. Like you'd see like a random.

SPEAKER_03 3:01

But people had to go to work, didn't they?

SPEAKER_04 3:02

Some people, but most people work from home, right? Like everything shut down, right? So it was and you talked about deer and stuff, like the deer were popping up all over the place. Yeah, because you're like, what's going on? Everywhere is safe. This is weird, yeah. This is weird, right?

SPEAKER_03 3:16

Yeah, how was that driving with no cars?

SPEAKER_04 3:18

It was crazy. Like you could, it took no time to get anywhere.

SPEAKER_03 3:21

It was yeah, well, because I didn't drive for all those years, right? But yeah, like where I was, I remember the motorbikes were having a roar of time because there was no cars on the road. Yeah, like I'm like, well, somebody's gonna be dead later, but holy I I was thinking, if I was 19 or 20, I'd do the same thing, man. Because there ain't no cops out.

SPEAKER_04 3:39

You know, well, there was you yeah, I don't remember. There was I can't remember. You must there must have been cops. I just never saw any, but that's not a surprise.

SPEAKER_03 3:46

Well, I don't see a cop sitting on the highway waiting to catch that one dude. Yeah, one dude, and if it was you, you suck. Right? Yeah, you know, but yeah, yeah, I never thought.

SPEAKER_04 3:53

Yeah, no, I like I was, you know, what are you doing out? Well, bringing my wife to work.

SPEAKER_03 3:57

Like Oh, was that happening here? North Korea? Was it? No, no, like oh, I thought you meant like you had to stop.

SPEAKER_04 4:03

No, no, because anybody saw you, like would be like, what are you doing now? Like, so I at first for the first couple months I would I would I was driving her to work and then coming home and working home. And I remember I went to my workplace and said, like any chance I can just come into the office because this is I'm coming in, I'm five minutes away from the office. Oh, yeah, because you're right there. Yeah, I said it takes me 35 minutes to get oh yeah, they let me come in. So it was it was me, uh two two other women and one other one other man, like that were the old. There was four of us in our office.

SPEAKER_03 4:29

I remember you were at the office, but I didn't know that was the story that you went there. It was because yeah, because I had to bring her in. Please, can I go? I'm just right here.

SPEAKER_04 4:35

That's what I said. I said, I'm spending so much money, like I'm supposed to be driving less, I'm driving more, but now I'm gonna get I'm having to go in and out of the city twice a day, right? So yeah, so anyway, they had no problem. I just worked worked in the office. Uh I was on one side of the office, the other fellow was on a whole different side of the office, and then uh the one woman was on the the front at the the front at the front desk because we still had to have somebody at the front desk, and then the other one was in a different part of the office, and that was it, the four of us.

SPEAKER_03 4:58

Yeah, crazy time in the world, but yeah, it was crazy.

SPEAKER_04 5:00

Like now nobody in the parking lot, nobody on the roads. It was crazy, yeah.

The 7-Foot-9 Prospect And Wemby

SPEAKER_03 5:04

Yeah, we'll never see that again. No, maybe in the movies, maybe, yeah. Nobody's even made a movie about any of that shit, so at least let it go. Not yet, no. Have you seen this young fella, this French kid out of Montreal, teenager?

SPEAKER_04 5:18

No, you were telling me about him, but nothing.

SPEAKER_03 5:19

Oliver, Oliver, real, real, real, yeah, I didn't say in French.

SPEAKER_00 5:23

I'm assuming real.

SPEAKER_03 5:24

Seven foot nine? What?

SPEAKER_00 5:25

Crazy, man. What? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:27

They had him standing beside Wimby. I'm just like, oh well, this is interesting.

SPEAKER_00 5:30

Oh, wow. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:31

Now he'll play in the NBA for about a cup of coffee. Because if you're that big, you're gonna get injured, right?

SPEAKER_04 5:37

Yeah, well, yeah. Like I have no idea. Look at Wemby. He's what's what's Wemby? Seven, seven? Is he seven? Is he that called? Seven four. Seven four?

SPEAKER_03 5:45

But is it the bucko far?

SPEAKER_04 5:46

Yeah, but uh like we talked about it a couple weeks ago, you know, put it between his legs, behind his back, like you know, I know.

SPEAKER_03 5:51

But they made the joke he said he put on 30 pounds that nobody can tell.

SPEAKER_04 5:54

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:55

What? Yeah, like that's bad, right? Yeah, yeah. Anybody puts 30 pounds on, you can see it. No, yeah, where'd it go in? Your head? Yeah, yeah, right. Oh, did he go to the Kardashian doctor? Get a new head? Yeah, he has uh he's a talent. This guy. That was a great that was a great pickup, Wimby.

SPEAKER_04 6:10

Oh, okay. I thought you were talking about this young guy.

SPEAKER_03 6:12

Oh, this young guy, I haven't seen him play much. I just saw a couple little clips with him. He's kind of awkward. Oh, okay. Still in high school, like he's not, you know. Oh, okay, yeah. Well, he could he could do the Giannis uh layup probably from half.

SPEAKER_00 6:23

From half. Right? Yeah, yeah. Two steps from the three point line.

SPEAKER_03 6:26

Oh, that thing we looked at was bananas. It makes no sense. And the referee's that's fine. Yeah, yeah. What? Oh, that thing I showed you. Yeah, yeah. Crazy.

SPEAKER_04 6:35

Stutter step, stutter, step, stutter, stab. Well, now I'm gonna do my chest.

SPEAKER_03 6:38

The gather, yeah, and then what? Yeah, and then the other guy that caught the ball and stepped traveling. Yeah, and then nobody even argued it. No, nobody even argued it. Yeah, so yeah, so does you get these kids? I don't know what they're feeding them, man. So, you know, he's gonna play in high school games and good luck. Yeah, because he doesn't have to jump to dunk the ball.

SPEAKER_00 6:56

No, it's yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:58

Okay, well, now you're in trouble because grade 12, well, you know, some guys might be five, six, five, six, nothing.

SPEAKER_04 7:06

The biggest thing, yeah, exactly. Right. It's gonna be what he does on the defensive end. Like nobody's nobody can go into the into the key with somebody out there, and it's gonna block everything.

SPEAKER_03 7:14

Right, you're gonna have to make him twist his ankles up and fall over or something, right? Yeah, Timber, yeah, but wow. Uh uh, speaking of Timber, our poor boy McClung. Yeah, got waved again, eh?

SPEAKER_04 7:25

I know we were just saying, like, by the time he finally got one, he's too too small. I think it has nothing to do with white joke. I think he's too small.

SPEAKER_03 7:32

I think he's just a defensive liability.

SPEAKER_04 7:34

It's the same with Isaiah Thomas. The guy could, you know, play, score, score with the best of them, but he's such a liability in the end. Yeah, mostly he just jumped out of the way.

unknown 7:43

Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 7:43

What are you gonna do when you know you get what are you gonna do if Wemby you know decides they get a switch and they get Wemby posting up McClung? You have to send a second defender, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:54

So yeah, you know, yeah. But yeah, I mean, how long did he last with the pacers? Two or three games. Two or three games. Yeah, and and I saw one game, he was alright. He looked all right.

SPEAKER_04 8:04

Yeah, because I thought that that I thought that like they actually signed him to a contract either. It wasn't like a 10-day contract, but then an actual contract, but it wasn't guaranteed. So then they waived him.

SPEAKER_03 8:12

They waved him anyway. Yeah, poor guy. Well, here's the thing, you gotta wonder, like, you know, did he go buy a house? I would say finally, I guess he's played.

SPEAKER_04 8:20

I hope not. It's the fifth, I think they said is the fifth team he's played with. Is it the fifth? But he's but like he's the fifth team in like the ninth game or something that he's played. Like it's not poor guy. Like he gets on, he you know, gets signed to these like 10-day contracts or whatever, usually, and he might get into a game and then then he's gone again, right?

SPEAKER_03 8:36

But he'll still play in the G League, right?

SPEAKER_04 8:38

He was the MVP of the G League, everyone like 26 or 27 points ago.

SPEAKER_03 8:42

I guess it doesn't isn't that weird though? Yeah, that because most guys that play well in the G League end up playing in the NBA and doing okay.

SPEAKER_00 8:48

Yeah, it's just gotta be his defense.

SPEAKER_03 8:50

What is he? Five, ten, six feet, maybe six feet, maybe. Yeah, maybe, yeah. I don't even know.

SPEAKER_04 8:56

Yeah, me neither.

SPEAKER_03 8:57

No idea. No, poor guy. I feel bad for a man.

SPEAKER_00 9:00

I know, right?

SPEAKER_03 9:00

I want I don't know if he's married with kids or something. He's ah, daddy's on the patient. No, not anymore. Yeah, how many five jerseys?

SPEAKER_04 9:08

He's gotta be he's gotta be in his 30s, I would think. Like early 30s, maybe now. Like he's got a bigger one.

SPEAKER_03 9:13

Well, he just should go play in that like and one. Maybe maybe he's late 20s, whatever.

SPEAKER_04 9:18

But he's just poor guy.

SPEAKER_03 9:19

But thing is, you know, what are they making in the G League? Oh, I have no idea. You know, is it enough to live? Maybe. Yeah, why not? Having a good time, yeah, yeah. Yeah, so I don't know, but I just feel so bad for that guy. Yeah, but then they're gonna call him up for the slam dunk anyway. Right?

SPEAKER_04 9:34

Well, it'll be interesting to have he decides to do it again because he'll be he'll have to defend again, right? He won again last year, so yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:42

Well, you know, I'd I'd like to see Zion in the dunk contest, but uh guess what?

SPEAKER_00 9:46

Injured again, injured again, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:48

So we now know it's not because he's fat, because he's thinned out. Yeah, right, but the boy's muscular in general. Yeah, yeah. Uh but injured again, hamstring. Need those for jumping.

SPEAKER_04 9:59

Man, it's kind of crazy, right? Like that that's him and Ja, and they were both like, like, what? These bugs are. Look at these two guys. The next faces of the NBA, and it's like nope. The next LeBron son was the next one. Next LeBron was the next one. That's what they say, right?

SPEAKER_03 10:14

Like, yeah, LeBron's like, bring it.

SPEAKER_04 10:16

Yeah, yeah, so much for that. And Jaw's just been nothing but you know, one issue after another, it seems like, and uh Zion's been injuries and issues constantly since he got in, right? So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:27

So hopefully they got that dietitian close to him because he's injured and on the sidelines. That's true, right? That's where you're gonna put it in. I mean, obviously the man can gain weight, he should play the NFL. If you can gain that kind of weight, be that muscular and that explosive, you probably could play in the NFL.

SPEAKER_04 10:40

Yeah, but like I said, when the guy's on the court, it's the same with Anthony Davis. When they're on the court, they're so good. They draw so much attention, they still, you know, putting up 20 and dude.

SPEAKER_03 10:49

Anthony Davis for the Lakers.

SPEAKER_04 10:51

Anthony Davis is a double-double machine, man, right?

SPEAKER_03 10:54

You can't stop them. No, you can't. I left that that pass from one end to the other, you just catch it, lay it up like for him LeBron. Like, really? I know. What are we doing? Yeah, yeah, it's crazy, right? But yeah, Anthony, yeah, poor Anthony Davis, too, right? But once again, that uh that Dallas team right now.

SPEAKER_04 11:10

I was just ready to say, go ahead. Go ahead. No, I was gonna say, like, uh, I saw Nowitzki came out and said, like essentially said, like, this is painful to watch.

SPEAKER_03 11:18

Yeah, it's well, they're two and seven or something.

SPEAKER_04 11:20

Yeah, they're I think yeah, two and seven. That's it. That's a that's uh that's as good as they're probably are right now. Maybe it's even worse than that. Like, I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 11:26

Trade's looking real good now, isn't it? Well, Kyrie hasn't played yet. Davis is already sitting there.

SPEAKER_04 11:31

Clay Thompson is like off to one of the worst of his best career.

SPEAKER_03 11:35

He's not even playing.

SPEAKER_04 11:35

I saw the other day, he was like a zero for eight or something in a game. Like, and then he's yeah, he's shooting like 20 some percent from three right now. It's well, how old is he? 31. It's time to go, too, right? Like, and he's had plenty of injuries. Yeah, see, he's he's a taking off the floor. He's you know, everybody wants to see because you still got Durant who came back from the injury and still, you know, uh scoring machine gets in the city.

SPEAKER_03 11:55

Yeah, but Durant never jumped three feet in the air, two feet or we one foot in the air to just shoot.

Injuries, Stars, And Team Form Slumps

SPEAKER_04 12:00

He didn't have to. But Steph is uh, you know, Steph's still doing what Steph does at his age, and everybody wants, you know, even even Harden, who's like no nowhere near the MVP Harden, like is still, you know, pretty doing pretty well, right? If he can get a streak, look at Westbrook. There's another one, Westbrook.

SPEAKER_03 12:16

Westbrook is killing it for Sacramento right now. And good on you, Westbrook, because you still got that athleticism, he's still fast selling.

SPEAKER_04 12:22

He did, you know, good on him. He did he did well last year with uh Denver as well, right?

SPEAKER_03 12:26

So well, he said something. What did he say? He goes, I won't go somewhere where I'm not wanted or something. No, no shit, but he said it was something weird, like you know.

SPEAKER_04 12:35

Yeah, he indic he indicated that Denver didn't want him back. I saw that.

SPEAKER_03 12:38

Yeah, so I don't know if that's how he was doing that or whatever, but I don't know.

unknown 12:42

I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 12:42

I mean listen, Westbrook's a great player. You know, he takes I've never seen him take uh like accountability for for when things, you know, like hey, maybe, you know, you know, if it's starting to be a constant thing, like is it really like is there a is it a conspiracy theory thing or is there a lot of people?

SPEAKER_03 13:02

But remember what Beverly said. Beverly goes, well, nobody's uh can equal this passion and this drive and then and his asshole-ish, obviously. Something else is in there.

SPEAKER_04 13:10

Well, it's it's it's you know, I think what happened after fans? Like he's yelling, gone after fans, but I mean it's I think uh you know, like I think the Denver thing was a was a was a bit he filled into a role in Denver and he accepted that role, so that's why I thought maybe he'd turn the corner, but obviously Denver didn't want him back. Maybe he was asking too much. But maybe he was asking too much money. I don't know, man. Maybe Denver was like, listen, we'll give him money though, Russ.

SPEAKER_03 13:34

You just want to keep playing, don't you?

SPEAKER_04 13:35

That's yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:35

Like, bro, chase a ring now. Yeah. Chase a ring.

SPEAKER_04 13:39

I think he doesn't want to do I think he said he doesn't want a ring, Chase, right? Anyway.

SPEAKER_03 13:43

Yeah, put him on the rafters. They don't want to ring Chase. But you know what?

SPEAKER_04 13:46

Good on Westbrook. He's you know, we talk about injuries, like he's you know, he's not injured, but going back to Clay, uh, everybody wants Clay to be that younger version. That that like, you know, like they're like I said, you're still seeing all these other guys still doing well, and Clay's just I don't think clay, I think Clay's done. Like, I don't think he, I don't think you're gonna see him rebound and become the clay of old.

SPEAKER_03 14:05

You're not gonna see this by this could be a mental thing on him.

SPEAKER_04 14:08

It could be right now.

SPEAKER_03 14:09

Could be, right? Could be a mental thing because the man can shoot, we know that.

SPEAKER_04 14:13

He can, and and and again, not having Kyrie or Anthony Davis to draw attention away means they're they're probably sticking closer to home on him, so his he's not getting wide open. He can't get those rhythm shots going, right?

SPEAKER_03 14:24

Anthony Davis and Kyrie aren't playing.

SPEAKER_04 14:25

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:26

Right?

SPEAKER_04 14:26

Yeah, oh god, like there's a reason. Like that Dallas would be way better. We talked about it, Dallas is gonna be a great team this year.

SPEAKER_03 14:33

We were we were concerned that they're gonna be better than everybody thinks. But here's the thing I saw people slagging Cooper Flag now. Oh, I see that.

SPEAKER_04 14:41

Yeah, like I really he's a he's an 18-year-old kid, man.

SPEAKER_03 14:44

Right, and he's not the star, he's not a superstar. No, he's a real good player.

SPEAKER_04 14:48

He's a real good player.

SPEAKER_03 14:49

But you can't oh yeah, he only scored 11 points.

SPEAKER_04 14:52

And he's 18. You go into the NBA hit 18 and score 11 points, right?

SPEAKER_03 14:58

I can't like they were, you know, they're praising him for that, and then boom. Yeah, like what is wrong with you people? Stupid internet.

SPEAKER_04 15:04

Well, that's what that's exactly what it is. Stupid internet, Kendrick. They see that you know, he goes, he goes in, he's 18 years old, he goes in and he dominates in college. Yeah, and they're like, okay, well, that's you know, he's dominated in college and he's gonna dominate in the NBA then.

SPEAKER_03 15:16

No, no, that doesn't translate. Who even said that? Yeah, I know, right? Fired. There's no way that Barkley or Shaq or any of those guys. Ernie, you didn't say that, did you Ernie? No. There's no way, right? Like, who said that? Nobody said it.

SPEAKER_04 15:26

No, but that's just it. Like, I mean, I think it's just people just assume that because he did well in university, that he's gonna it's gonna automatically translate to the NBA. We've seen guys that are you know uh break scoring records in the NCAA.

SPEAKER_03 15:38

Look at um Yeah, there's more than one of those two.

SPEAKER_04 15:40

Oh, there's more than one of them, right? I was trying to think what his name his name left me, but he was uh Jimmer for debt.

SPEAKER_03 15:45

Now he's homeless.

SPEAKER_04 15:46

Jimmy Jimmer for debett. Like he got I can't remember where he what university he played for, but the guy was like a scoring machine in a university, right? And then all of a sudden I don't know this guy. Go ahead. Then he gets to the NBA and can't do anything. Well, that's why just his game, the game doesn't translate, right?

SPEAKER_03 15:59

No, it doesn't.

SPEAKER_04 16:00

You can play within a system and be really well, do really well within that system, and then you get out of that system and yeah, yeah, you gotta be versatile, man.

SPEAKER_03 16:07

You gotta yeah, you're right. Like if that's and maybe that system was working for him. Like they made the made the system around him. Yeah, that's a possibility too. It is, right?

SPEAKER_04 16:15

And that's I think that's how it works. You listen to uh listen to a lot of the European players when they talk about the difference between the NBA and the European game. The European game is that that team game that the the the development of the uh uh of all your foundational skills is like done at a young age. I saw them talking uh you know when LeBron and uh on that on their podcast thing.

SPEAKER_03 16:36

Right.

Why NCAA Stardom Doesn’t Always Translate

SPEAKER_04 16:36

They're talking to Luca, and Luca was talking about you know the difference between going through Luca, 14 playing professional. Yeah, yeah, but like what he was doing in European basketball, like what their practices entail, and and and you know, like uh Steve Nash and LeBron were saying, well, in the States, like it's all just about getting rep getting games in. Right? They're not working on the fundamentals, it's just play, play, play, play, play. You're gonna get better through games. Anyway, it's um they were talking about how the that's where the amateur or the um the minor basketball kind of leagues or whatever, as they're bringing them up, aren't doing enough in the states to like push the fundamentals, right? And so the NBA is not a game, NBA is an individual's game. It's based on offense, it's based on one-on-one, they want highlights.

SPEAKER_05 17:16

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_04 17:16

So that's why like you know, when you got a lot of those NBA players together and they go to the Olympics, they had a hard time before, right?

SPEAKER_03 17:22

Yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_04 17:23

Why do you think they said, okay, if we're gonna be on the Olympics, we want you to sign contracts now to to commit to the stuff.

SPEAKER_03 17:28

Yeah, and you have to practice for over four years, like every other team in the world's been doing.

SPEAKER_04 17:32

Yeah, yeah. Don't just go out there and assume that your individual one-on-one teams are.

SPEAKER_03 17:35

Well, it just took time for the rest of the world to catch up. Now they're caught up, now you're in trouble.

SPEAKER_04 17:38

Yeah, because now you get guys that can do play within the system, but also are like individually or ridiculous.

SPEAKER_03 17:43

That's an issue, but yeah, go basketball.

SPEAKER_04 17:46

Well, look, Giannis, Jokic, Shay, Luca. Because probably the what five four out of the five best players in the league right now. None of them are American. And Wimby.

SPEAKER_03 17:58

Wimby's not American?

SPEAKER_04 17:59

Yeah, that's what I mean. There's five players right there that we that we said we're would be top considered top ten in the league right now. Yeah, no, no. They're not American, right? Nope.

SPEAKER_03 18:06

Yeah. Uh oh. Yeah. Don Cherry, you hear that?

SPEAKER_04 18:10

No, no, Don Cherry's gonna come out of retirement. He's still he's still around.

SPEAKER_03 18:14

Even blue. Yeah. Oh well. Wow, yeah, that's crazy. Yeah, nobody talks about that, huh?

SPEAKER_04 18:20

No. Well, they do.

SPEAKER_03 18:21

Like, I see them talking about it, but you're I expect to hear that on Saturday night, Ernie.

SPEAKER_04 18:25

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 18:25

That's right. You bring that up. You heard it. Well, they haven't they started talking about switching the uh all-star game to more of uh Bro, somebody's already stealing our shit because we talk about it, then I see it this week on like sports desk. I'm like, hang on, we just what? The uh the NH.

SPEAKER_04 18:38

Go ahead, yeah. So the NHL All-Star format, I don't know, you probably didn't watch any of the NHL no, I haven't seen hockey in 10 years until I got home. Canada and USA ended up playing in the finals. Like they did like a tournament style thing. It was great, man. It was really, really good. It was like, yeah, so you were playing for your country, like, even though it's like a button, the all-stars from the NHL were all playing on their own uh individual countries, so it was like it was like an international tournament style thing instead.

unknown 19:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 19:01

And Americans and the Canadians ended up playing in the finals and the Canadians beat them. It was a great game and it was really fun. And so they've started talking about maybe doing something for the NBA for the NBA because they don't know where to go with this. Because you know, the way it's working is not working anymore, obviously. Uh you know, they started talking about maybe doing a world versus USA style game, right?

SPEAKER_03 19:20

And see how that they have that for the like the freshman or something, isn't there?

SPEAKER_04 19:25

There there is the world versus that's the ALS, the whatever, the years one and two players. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe that yeah, right. The US But I mean that doesn't seem to work in that game either. The US never wins it, right? So maybe they're gonna look at like doing you know, Canadian team, American team, they'll follow the NHL and do a similar tournament. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:43

Right, keep trying because your ratings are right.

SPEAKER_04 19:46

Oh, the All-Star Weekend's kind of shit. Yeah, it's garbage, but uh I haven't watched it in years, I'll be honest, right? Like I I'll catch the the highlights, but I can't.

SPEAKER_03 19:54

I can't well I always had to record it because it would have been on when I'm at work.

SPEAKER_04 19:58

I don't want to just see a game where guys are just like you're in a you're just in an open gym chuck chucking threes all all game long.

SPEAKER_03 20:04

Yeah, and how they you know justified it was they said, well, you know, whoever wins the quarter gives the money to the kids, uh whatever, you know, like 10 or 10.

SPEAKER_04 20:11

It still didn't make it more competitive, though.

SPEAKER_03 20:12

Like no, but it you know, I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 20:14

They tried the whole thing where the players would pick the guys, like yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:18

That was yeah, and then whoever gets picked last feels like a shit, like just like it did in the playground.

SPEAKER_04 20:22

Yeah. Remember there was the one year when uh was it KD and LeBron and they didn't want to they didn't want to Westbrook was the last pick.

SPEAKER_01 20:30

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:31

See, again, go not to go back to Westbrook. I don't know. The guy, the guy's probably a nice guy, but like there's obviously something there, right?

Europe vs USA: Fundamentals And Team Play

SPEAKER_03 20:37

Gotta wonder. Yeah, yeah. I like your ass. Yeah, I like you. Full out, buddy. Full out. I like my car, it's one speed. That's it. Right. Yeah. So yeah, what that's you know, well, okay. So you're talking about European guys. Yeah, yeah. Nobody's talking about Jokic again this year, like yet, right? Right. Okay, but then watch it.

SPEAKER_04 20:55

Yeah, all I've heard, you're right. All I've heard everybody talking about is either Wemby or uh uh Doncic.

SPEAKER_03 21:01

And I watched that Miami game where he scored 33, 15, and 16. And and and by the way, don't know how he did it because it wants the whole game. If I were to count, I said he's got maybe 12, maybe six and five. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 21:16

It makes no sense. Didn't he average a triple double last year?

SPEAKER_03 21:18

I think so.

SPEAKER_04 21:19

When Westbrook did it, they nobody could stop it. Because of course Westbrook's a a guard, but he still averaged a triple double.

SPEAKER_03 21:24

Nobody did this since Oscar Robinson.

SPEAKER_04 21:26

Yeah, and so last year Jokic does it, nobody's even talking about it.

SPEAKER_02 21:29

Who won the who won the MVP last year?

SPEAKER_04 21:30

She.

SPEAKER_02 21:31

Yeah, that's she shouldn't have.

SPEAKER_04 21:33

She had a good year last year, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:34

But Jokic was better than the year before, and he won the MVP.

SPEAKER_04 21:38

Yeah, but you guys are stupid. That's the same argument you could have, like LeBron didn't win MVP. Yeah, that's another one. I was just ready to say thank you. Right?

SPEAKER_03 21:45

There's voter fatigue. It does happen. Well, okay. And Steve Nash won two years in a row.

unknown 21:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:50

Steve Nash won two years in a row.

SPEAKER_04 21:52

Listen, Steve Nash was there was the one year where there was the one year where he definitely deserved it.

SPEAKER_03 21:57

Definitely, but uh not the other.

SPEAKER_04 21:58

The other year I might have to agree with Shaq that's a big thing.

SPEAKER_03 22:00

That was a gimme. Shaq might have been robbed that year. He was robbed. Shaq, we love you, buddy. Shut up, Charles. So yeah, so 100%. Give it to him, Ernie. Yeah. Yeah. If you don't get us on the show, we're gonna be pissed.

SPEAKER_04 22:11

But Jokic will have another year like this. Watch, he'll probably average close to a triple or double again. But see, Denver finished in the middle of the pack last year, didn't they? Like in the West?

SPEAKER_03 22:19

Denver, yeah, it was around. Yeah, so but he's a center.

SPEAKER_04 22:23

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 22:23

Okay. Near me a center that passes like that.

SPEAKER_04 22:28

Oh, there isn't.

unknown 22:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 22:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:30

Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 22:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:31

And he jumps this high still. Yeah. Can't even jump over a floor.

SPEAKER_01 22:35

He dribbles under the basket and then to the corner. The two defenders are like, what just happened?

SPEAKER_04 22:40

I saw a clip the other day, Jim's leaving. Luka is an Luca's another guy that's not overly athletic, but I saw a clip the other day where he uh lobbed it up off the backboard, caught it off two feet, you know, caught it back and threw it down. Oh Luca can get up more than I thought. I was like, okay, I thought Luca was like another one that I've never seen that. Could only jump over a phone book at best.

SPEAKER_03 22:58

Yeah. What I did see is when uh he was like clearly being swarmed. And he somehow got through and lays it up, and LeBron and Reeves are like at each other.

SPEAKER_01 23:09

What did you do you see? I saw it. Did you see that?

All-Star Format Fixes And Ratings Woes

SPEAKER_04 23:12

He kind of double teams coming at him. Yeah. And he somehow like, I don't know, it looks like he almost wrapped him with his like his elbow just sealed the guy off just enough that he was able to like do it true. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:22

Yeah, but they they said they were just looking at each other saying, Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 23:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:26

That's pretty cool when you see guys like that level go, what did he just do?

SPEAKER_04 23:30

What did uh do you remember the Chris Paul clip? I can't remember what if he was on love that guy. Maybe it was the all the smoke or whatever podcast he was on. He was talking about, he goes, one thing as a player you never can do uh when you're sitting on a bench is react to something another player does.

SPEAKER_03 23:48

Really? Can you run your own team?

SPEAKER_04 23:49

Like, no, no, like on the on the opposite.

SPEAKER_03 23:51

Oh, on the opposite. Right?

SPEAKER_04 23:52

So, like if some guy has a really crazy dunk, don't react.

SPEAKER_03 23:54

That makes sense, but still stunts.

SPEAKER_04 23:55

But there's still, like, you go back and you look and he talks about the one where his uh what's his name? Gerald uh is it Gerald Green? Anyway, guy could jump out of the gym and he gets the law, but he does this crazy.

SPEAKER_03 24:05

Gerald Green had the highest uh vertical of all the everything.

SPEAKER_04 24:08

So he's so he's his head's above the rim on this one. No on this, like if you ever if you haven't seen it before, you should see this crazy dunk. I haven't seen it. We'll have to look up. Catches the alley oop. There's a windmill, heads above the rim. Alle oop windmill. The camera angle is like going this way, and here's the opposing bench. Like, you see all the opposing bench going. Oh, the opposing bench. That's fantastic. They're all reacting to the dunk, and it's like, you can't do that, man.

SPEAKER_03 24:28

Yeah, but you just gotta love athleticism.

SPEAKER_04 24:30

You gotta fan, you're a fan. It's like there's an old clip of I think Larry Bird when he was like having one of those games against Atlanta, and there's a clip where he's he hits some crazy follow-away shot or whatever, and it goes in, and you see the Atlanta bench all going, yeah, they're all like kind of falling over.

SPEAKER_03 24:45

Like well, like I said, if you're a fan, you're a fan, but it doesn't matter. Yeah, you can't help it. You know, you want to win, but you gotta give the props.

SPEAKER_04 24:52

Yeah, give the props, but that's pretty funny, though. Yeah, that is funny. So I never thought about that. Like whenever somebody does something crazy, look at the opposing bench to see how they react. Yeah, yeah. You always see how your teammates react. Oh, of course, they go crazy, right? They go absolutely crazy.

SPEAKER_03 25:04

Yeah, yeah, that's that's hilarious, actually. I have to look at that one.

SPEAKER_04 25:09

Speaking of LeBron, now he's coming back, I think, right?

SPEAKER_03 25:11

Well, buddy, Lakers are in second. Yeah, without LeBron, without Reeves, without a center. Sorry, Aiden.

SPEAKER_04 25:17

Dayton's doing really well, I think, isn't he? I was afraid of it. Yeah, I think he actually is doing well right now.

SPEAKER_03 25:22

I think he's gonna sit together.

SPEAKER_04 25:24

He started off shit, but he's doing well now, I think.

SPEAKER_03 25:26

Yeah, you know what I think again? Somebody pulled him aside. Say, listen, man, you're 27 years old. You were drafted ahead of that white boy right there. Okay, right. Like the white boy's here, you're here. Can you fucking play like you're supposed to? Yeah, yeah. As we saw you play before, can you do that again? You're 22nd.

SPEAKER_04 25:44

Yeah, it's I think it's it listen, you know, I know there's a lot of talk about when LeBron comes back. It's gonna screw up everything. Because it's gonna screw up the camera. Screw up everything, but but you know, that was one thing right there. You just said it like Ayton, Ayton had to get used to playing with Luca. He had to get used to playing with it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, now they're all gonna have to get used to playing with LeBron again, because no matter what, it's gonna change the system up, right?

SPEAKER_03 26:06

It is, because you're also gonna get passes that you didn't expect to get.

SPEAKER_04 26:10

You're like, which he already gets right now from Luca, right? So your head's gonna be on a swivel, and now you're gonna have it coming from every angle, right?

SPEAKER_03 26:16

So Man, if they can get their shit together and keep at like in the top three or four, ooh, we're it might be okay.

SPEAKER_04 26:22

This a depth is just I mean, if they can get to the playoffs.

SPEAKER_03 26:26

Well, you know, JJ, let's just play them all for the whole thing.

SPEAKER_04 26:28

If you can get to the playoffs injury free, they might they might be okay. Like they're I still don't know if they're you know they're a championship team yet, but no, but whoever stays healthiest at the end. I saw Paul Pierce the other day, which Paul Pierce Paul Pierce. He had said, you know, LA needs to trade LeBron now while they can get some pieces back for him and to contend.

SPEAKER_03 26:48

He probably has a no trade clause.

SPEAKER_04 26:49

He does have a no-trade clause. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 26:51

I didn't I didn't say probably, but he does have a no trade clause. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:55

Who said that, Carmelo? No, uh no, no, no. Uh Paul Pierce. Oh, Paul Pierce. Yeah, Paul.

Jokic’s Greatness And MVP Fatigue

SPEAKER_03 27:00

I don't know what kind of a weed they got over where you are. Yeah, but you know, do a little bit of research, son. We know more than you do, right? The truth, yeah. We can we call him that anymore? I don't know. Paul, the misinformation pierced. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, anyway. Uh he's always been a well one day he talks about how great the problem is. You get in trouble for that watch that.

SPEAKER_04 27:22

Well, the oh yeah. Yeah, I'm like, you might went and saw why he got fired.

SPEAKER_03 27:26

Yeah, I sure did. Yeah. Yeah. I'm like, yeah, okay. Okay, looks like a good time.

SPEAKER_04 27:30

It looked like he was Paul was having a good time. Yeah, they're having a good time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:34

But uh yeah, so okay, so anyway, we're saying Lakers are in second. And then we play Atlanta, who is like minus 10. How many losses do they have?

SPEAKER_04 27:43

Uh they might have the opposite record, like two and seven.

SPEAKER_03 27:46

Two and seven. And then they smoked LA by 20. Yeah. Huh? So, like we said before, LA plays down. Yeah, I don't get it. Well, they a lot of teams do.

SPEAKER_04 27:56

We still look at who played. LeBron didn't play. Three teams didn't play and gave Vince in the streets. Gave Vince didn't play. And then they still have like three other guys that are also injured. Like they don't know.

SPEAKER_01 28:05

JJ played eight minutes.

SPEAKER_04 28:07

JJ, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:09

But probably still could play. He probably still could, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 28:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:12

If he wasn't chasing women all those years, he would have been a better player. If he was out there, I didn't say that. Somebody else did.

SPEAKER_04 28:16

Yeah, I think even Bronny had a good game last night.

SPEAKER_03 28:19

Yes, and nobody said anything about Bronny.

SPEAKER_04 28:21

A losing effort, right?

SPEAKER_03 28:22

Yeah, brutal, but still. Come on, man. Hey, wait, isn't the Great Cup coming soon?

unknown 28:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:28

CFL, they do have football still. Yeah. It's got to be coming soon, right? Yeah. I don't know when. Do you know when?

SPEAKER_04 28:33

No.

SPEAKER_03 28:33

I think it's November, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_04 28:35

I haven't followed CFL since I lived in Edmonton. That was the last time.

SPEAKER_03 28:38

All right, we'll find out when the Great Cup is. I'll put it right here. You're doing this this time. Sure thing, Bobby. Give it to me. Now, if you're uh I guess Halligonian or Darkmouthian, where was the uh trailer park boys film, Sackville? No, I don't know where it was. I don't know where it was. It was in a trailer park.

SPEAKER_04 28:57

Yeah, it was in a trailer park. It's you know, y'all we see the smoke stacks and the the Dartmouth smoke stacks.

SPEAKER_03 29:01

Yeah, so I think it was in Dartmouth.

SPEAKER_04 29:03

Well, that's where it was. I don't know where it was actually filmed, but yeah, it's meant to be over there.

SPEAKER_03 29:06

Meant to be, yeah, right. Yeah, so just read we heard uh Mike Smith, Bubbles is being charged or going to court over sexual assault from 2017.

SPEAKER_04 29:17

2017 that said yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:18

Now I'm not gonna say this on camera. I'm gonna work my way around this one.

SPEAKER_04 29:22

Right, good luck.

SPEAKER_03 29:23

But yeah, but when I was uh being a dorman at a certain bar back in the day, we had heard some rumors about this guy. Yeah, yeah, about different things. Yeah, you told me some stories. You told me some stories about him. Yeah, yeah, and ladies were concerned back then. Now I don't know if those stories were true or not, it was alleged stories, but uh some of them are pretty heated altercations that I saw personally.

SPEAKER_00 29:46

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 29:46

So uh yeah, so if you guys are looking to uh go after Mikey Smith, you might want to talk to some of those people. So I don't know what he did, and I don't care what he did, but you know, allegedly if you go to go to trial and you found guilty. That's it. Yeah. Good on you. Bye-bye trailer park boys, probably at this point, right?

SPEAKER_04 30:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:05

I bet you know they're probably on a hiatus, I would think.

SPEAKER_04 30:08

I would go I would I don't know if it's still on anymore. I'm not I'm not sure to be honest.

SPEAKER_03 30:12

Well, there's listen, this isn't the first time he's had a problem. There was a shooting inside his bar back in the days. Yeah, man. Like Bubbles Bar, like there's all kinds of problems. No, yeah. Yeah, and uh this guy too, his name Steve something. Steve Skinner. Steve Skinner's in prison for the rest of his life, but Steve Skinner was involved in something there as well. And then he killed the guy and he took off. And they found him like years later, finally, like somewhere.

SPEAKER_00 30:36

Oh, crazy, man.

Bench Reactions, LeBron’s Return, And Fit

SPEAKER_03 30:37

Yeah, yeah, it's crazy. Like, yeah, he was something was wrong with him. Steve wasn't in his right mind at the time. But yeah, you know, it is what it is. Just uh we hate hearing that stuff. Yeah, bad people out there, right?

SPEAKER_04 30:47

Yeah, that's uh it's probably just uh I guess it's uh you know, I mean maybe he was always like that. I have no idea. Again, it's all alleged, I guess, right? Yeah, it's uh but still, man, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:57

Alleged, like we said. But uh I'll I'll I'll bring this in and then we'll uh sign off for today. I'm not as cold as I thought I'd be. Right? Like I know it's two degrees, okay? If the wind picks up, I'm cold. Yeah, yeah. Oh yeah. Right, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 31:12

You know, but there was there was ice, there was a cross on the car the other morning. Yeah, I had to turn on the old uh steps had ice, like it rained a lot yesterday. It was ice, it was a little bit out of the water.

SPEAKER_03 31:19

That's a good way to get injured. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, but yeah, I had a little bit, just put the wind swipers on, it's off. I mean, I got the heater on in the car, the heated seats are on, the heated mirrors are on, right? But yeah, I thought I would be colder. Standing outside this morning at the gym for six o'clock, talking to my buddy Kyle. I was outside the waiting for the doors to open. We were just chatting. Five minutes, I was like, okay, that's enough. Thank you. You know, I had something like this on. Yeah. It's like, okay, but I thought I'd be a lot colder.

SPEAKER_00 31:48

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:48

So I'm kind of happy about that, but it's really not that cold, too. It's it's it's it is to me because two degrees is bananas.

SPEAKER_04 31:56

It's chilly, man. I think it's you know, it's getting down. Like I said, it was you know, that day that there was frost in the car, it said it felt like minus three out there, so it's starting to get down there now. Yeah, but it's gonna be tomorrow's gonna be 15 degrees. Yeah, it's a little bit old. It's that time of year where it's yeah, the temperatures are all over the show. It'll be shorts and t-shirts. Four degrees felt like one this morning, and tomorrow's gonna be fifteen, and then I think two days from now it's gonna be back to like one degree again.

SPEAKER_03 32:16

Yeah, as they say in Nova Scotia, wait five minutes, the weather will change.

SPEAKER_04 32:19

That's it. Living on the water.

SPEAKER_00 32:21

That's it, living on the water, ma'am.

SPEAKER_03 32:22

All right, you got anything else for today, sir? Nope. That's it. All right, well, you know where to catch us? Buzzsprout, Apple, Spotify, uh, Muscle and Fiction, of course. So uh have yourself a good week and peace and thumbs up.

SPEAKER_04 32:37

Later.